Nepali tea finally acquired international trademark and its own logo in the international market after 154 years of tea cultivation. Organizations associated with tea production, and experts in the field of the Nepal Tea and Coffee Development board, has received its own logo and trademark after numerous attempts.
Before getting an international trademark, Nepali tea was being sold under the logo of Darjeeling, India.
According to the National Tea and Coffee Development Board under the Ministry of Agricultural Development, the brand logo developed and registered by the Department of Industry has been permitted. The logo comprises an image of mountains with ‘Nepali Tea Quality from the Himalayas’ written below it.
“Nepali tea producers used to export tea with the respective companies’ names or logos. Now, the tea will be sold in the international market with a common logo, which represents the national identity,” said Sheshkanta Gautam, executive director of the Nepal Tea and Coffee Development Board to Xinhua News Agency. Gautam informed that the logo will be formally unveiled during the third International Tea Festival in Nepal in March.
According to the National Tea and Coffee Development Board, Nepal produces tea in over 27,688 hectares of land in 44 districts, mainly in eastern districts like Ilam, Jhapa, Dhankuta, Terhathum, and Panchthar.
Nepal has been exporting tea to eight international destinations, mainly India, Canada, Germany, United States of America, and China. Shankar Sapkota, co-spokesperson at the Ministry of Agricultural Development, told Xinhua, “Having Nepal’s own trademark is indeed good news which will be beneficial for the farmers and overall tea industry.”
Chandra Bhusan Subba, a tea expert involved in the development of the logo and directive of the tea mentioned that the tea production standards, employment security of the workers and sensitivity towards environmental protection must be met in order to use the logo. As per the directive, the produced tea must be fully organic, the tea producers wanting to use the logo must submit an application and after the application, a process to trademark the tea will move forward.
With the approval of Nepali Orthodox Tea Certification Trademark Implementation Directive, the board has already asked the producers, processors, packagers, and traders to use the logo.
Nepal’s oldest and historical tea factory resides in Ilam. Tea cultivation first incepted in Ilam in 1920 B.S and a factory had been set up in 1935 B.S for the tea production in Nepal. Nepali tea finally acquired International Trademark after a century and half of the tea cultivation.
Nepal became a member of International Tea Committee back in 2007 and Nepali tea finally acquired International Trademark. The government of Nepal has also been marking 15th Baisakh as per the Nepali calendar as National Tea day.
Reference: Glocal Khabar